1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus and to method which guides the adjustments in the alignment of vehicle wheels to known original specifications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle wheel alignment apparatus is known to embody instruments carried by the vehicle wheels for generating signals indicative of the wheel positions, and display means connected to the instruments for visually illustrating the alignment positions. Prior art includes patents issued to Senften U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,782,831 of Jan. 1, 1974; 3,892,042 of July 1, 1975; 4,034,479 of July 12, 1977; and 4,126,943 of Nov. 28, 1978. A further disclosure has been made in Hunter U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,208 issued Aug. 15, 1978.
It is known in this field that service people, when making adjustments on the steering mechanism under the vehicle have to see the hands (or needles) on the display dials so that movement in the correct direction can be detected. However, before the display can be interpreted, the desired alignment specification parameters need to be known. Thus, up to the present time, service people have been required to make notes or memorize alignment specification requirements to obtain effective alignment results.
It is obviously unhandy for a service person working under a vehicle to be in a position to note the needle motion that is taking place on the dials associated with the alignment instrumentation. Some instrumentation has been made so as to be portable, yielding a somewhat improved relationship for service people working under a vehicle to observe alignment instrumentation. Proper wheel alignment is extremely important to the safe operation of vehicles, and adjustment in wheel alignment is rendered difficult when the instrumentation cannot be easily observed. Furthermore, service people are required to memorize or make written notations of the alignment parameters for each vehicle being worked on.